Want to move out but unsure if I can afford it

badomen

Hello MSE,

So a little background info:

I am 26, my partner is 22.

Me and my partner live and work in Kent (In a Medway town) at the moment with our respective parents.

I cycle to work, but own a car I rarely drive so low insurance/petrol - my girlfriend drives to work but has expensive insurance premiums due to being under 25 and having only just passed her test.

My income is 1200/pm after tax, whilst my partners is 500/pm and doesn't pay tax - around 200 of hers goes on insurance and phone bills already, while my income has £30 a month coming out for phone.

The average rent down here seems to be 600-750/pm for a one bedroom apartment and I've estimated council tax to be around 130/pm

Having never moved out or gone it alone, I'm stumped to see if it's even financially viable to move out here. I don't want to be in the situation where if I move out we're living uncomfortably or having to scrape by. Any advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

AndyBSG

So after bills your total combined take home is 1,700 - 230 = 1,470

Expenses you'll need to consider are

Rent - 675(gone for the average of 600/750)

Council tax - 100 (rough estimate for a 1 bed flat in Kent but could vary by £30 either way)

Utility Bills - 30 is being frugal and I suspect 50 a month would be more accurate

Food shopping - 200 a month

So you're already up to over 1,000 a month before factoring in things like internet, TV Licence, emergency fund savings, etc.

This leaves you with around 300-400 a month to cover all other living, socialising, savings, etc.

In all honesty, if you can both survive on just 300-400 a month disposable income you'll be much better served by saving the other 1,000 a month towards a deposit than burning it on rent.

elverson

1-bed flats are usually Band B, which in Medway is £1093 per year - £91 per month.

Band C would be £1249 - £104 per month.

Could you manage with 1 car between you if you moved in together? That would save some of the fixed costs ie your insurance and road tax.

badomen

When you say saving the other £1000 - you mean not move out and just save for a deposit to buy? Having not lived with my partner I'm not sure I'd be comfortable taking that leap, as I'd like the reassurance of knowing we won't murder each other! I also don't think my parents would allow me to stay here for the amount of time it would require for me to reach anything near the crazy amount needed for a mortgage deposit.

elverson

Perfectly sensible to see if you can stand each other first. Just make sure you can afford it.

Are either of you paying any rent to your folks at the moment?

badomen

Yeah, I'm paying £300/pm whilst my partner pays nothing to her mum, so leaves us with a lot of room for saving before we take the plunge and find a place.

FBaby

The problem is your girlfriend (not her per se but her situation). It sounds like she spends as much on getting herself to work (everything taking account) than she earns. It doesn't equate. Is there any reason her income is so low? Can she either increase her hours, and/or go to work using public transport (and then you put her on your insurance).

badomen

Hmm reply got deleted - Short end of it all is she works as a care assistant, i'm trying to encourage her to improve her career by moving in to hospital related work, for full time/better pay than minimum wage. She flat out refuses to give up her car, as she's only recently passed, bought her car and wants to acrue no-claims bonus. She's still living a little in a fantasy world as she expects to have a 2 bedroom flat with space and finances for 2 cars on our income (ha!) I have no idea of how to convince her to the more sensible suggestion of being on my insurance, as her way is far more expensive for no benefit.

marksoton

badomen wrote: »

She's still living a little in a fantasy world as she expects to have a 2 bedroom flat with space and finances for 2 cars on our income (ha!) I have no idea of how to convince her to the more sensible suggestion of being on my insurance, as her way is far more expensive for no benefit.

Well then you need to breakdown the costs in black and white that she can't argue with.

If she still refuses to accept the reality, well then you have a problem.

ReadingTim

Problem is that even if you could afford to move out, the cost of renting in relation to your relatively low incomes will make saving pretty tough. Rent now, and you'll be renting forever.

Instead, take advantage of the fact you can both live at home and save like mad to put down a deposit to buy a place: I can't promise it'll be any easier, but you tend to me more willing to make sacrifices to your lifestyle when you're paying you own mortgage, rather than your landlord's!

dirty_magic

The bottom line is that she needs more hours. Is she on minimum wage for her age group? If she worked 40 hours she'd be around £150 per month better off, even more if she can find a job for more money.